When Retreats Attack
retreat horror stories
Author: Ministry Leadership Center
Setting Your Preventative Maintenance Calendar
Your ministry needs a maintenance calendar just like your car does. When you buy a new car, it comes with a reminder list with things like: Oil change every 3,000 miles Tune up at 60,000 and 120,000 miles Change wiper blades every two years A maintenance calendar is a great tool for you to have […]
Lilly Endowment Inc. awards CYMT $240,000 for Theology Together Grant
The Lilly Endowment Inc. has awarded the Center for Youth Ministry Training $240,000 to fund its Theology Together program over the next three years. Over the past 20 years, the Lilly Endowment Inc. has awarded nearly $90 million in grants to fund their Youth and Theology Initiative. Theology Together will seek to learn from and build […]
City Girl in Small Town Ministry: Second year resident shares her story
Editor’s Note: Maria Ghianni is in her second year in the CYMT graduate residency program, and she serves as the youth director at Carthage FUMC in Carthage, Tenn. I was born and raised in Nashville and I grew up in the youth group at Calvary UMC. Kris Lott was my youth director and he was […]
How2: Avoid the 7 Pitfalls of Ineffective Meetings
The church is notorious for having ineffective meetings. Several times during my career, I felt physical pain prior to heading to the weekly staff meeting knowing that I was going to waste my time and be bored and frustrated. As youth ministers, we are responsible for leading meetings and for participating in others’ meetings. The […]
From Prayer Hogs to Participation: Getting students to pray beyond the closing prayer circle
by Lilly Lewin Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away, in a youth room in Nashville, Tenn., I was the resident “prayer hog.” I was the one at the end of youth group who, when my youth leader would ask who’d like to close us in prayer, would enthusiastically raise my hand […]
Spread Your Reach by Mentoring Your Leaders
by Peter Carlson Some of the best youth ministry happens when a student knows and trusts an adult who is willing to be a mentor, someone who can, on a regular basis, intensely show Jesus to the student through word, action, and lifestyle. With a growing or already large youth ministry, it’s nearly impossible for a […]
How2 Survive a Lock-In
by Stephanie Dodge and Lauren Gilliland Rule #1 Avoid lock-ins. Don’t put one on the yearly schedule. Wait for someone to bring it up, then try to work it in. Depending on your ministry setting, plan around community events when possible. If football/cheerleading/band competitions/soccer games are big in your town, scheduling a lock-in in the […]
Thank You References 2013
Dear ?????, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for taking the time to write a reference for ???? to the Center for Youth Ministry Training. ???? has started their graduate residency and is working at ????? as the youth director. As a part of the graduate residency program, ???? started the Master […]
6 Tips for Living on a Ministry Salary
by Chris and Joanna Cummings Hi there, we are the Cummingses and we are both in church ministry. Yes, you read that right. We were asked to share how we get the bills paid and live off of little income, and did we mention we both work in the local church? We are certainly not […]